Brush fire threatens homes near Industrial Drive in St. George

ST. GEORGE —Multiple agencies responded to a brush fire in St. George Monday afternoon that threatened nearby structures and began to creep into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve before being contained by firefighters.

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures before being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

The St. George Fire Department was alerted to the growing fire around 1:30 p.m. behind the Alano Club on 640 North off Industrial Drive.

“When we arrived, we had an acre heavily involved in flames with the wind pushing it at a very high rate,” St. George Fire Battalion Chief Darren Imlay said.

The fire was primarily situated behind the Alano Club building and began running up the hillside into the neighboring desert tortoise reserve. In addition to being spread by the wind, the fire consumed some trees and other heavy fuels, with flames reaching toward an overhead power line.

As firefighters from St. George, Washington City, the Bureau of Land Management and Utah State Lands, Forestry and Fire arrived, residents who live by the Alano Club began to evacuate their homes.

However, while fire was dangerously close to the homes, Imlay said the wind actually helped by pushing the fire alongside the homes instead of into them.

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures before being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Shawn Bieker, St. George News

“We were very lucky that way,” Imlay said.

Smoke over the area was thick for a short while as firefighters knocked down the fire, bringing it under control by 3:15 p.m.

The fire grew to be an estimated 2 acres in size, and while no homes were damaged, some smoke may have gotten into homes close to the fire, Imlay said.

No firefighters were harmed, and one area resident was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene by Gold Cross Ambulance personnel but didn’t require transportation to the hospital.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Imlay said the fire was a perfect example of the red flag fire weather conditions the region is currently experiencing.

“Low humidity, high winds, higher temperatures – that came all together to make a fire that’s usually small blow up to a bigger fire that threatened structures,” he said. “Conditions are really hazardous now for fires.”

Though the active fire season tends to wind down in September, local and state fire officials believe it will extend at least another month due to the season starting late as a result of a wet spring.

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A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Shawn Bieker, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

A brush fire that ignited behind the Alano Club in St. George threatened nearby structures and protected Mojave Desert tortoise habitat prior to its being put out by firefighters from multiple agencies, St. George, Utah, Sept. 16, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mori Kessler serves as a Senior Reporter for St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2011-12, and an assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won an award for photojournalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing ferals bees from a Washington City home. He is also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.